//------------------------------// // The Discovery // Story: The Revenge of Tirek // by Matthew Stone //------------------------------// Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and William called the hospital just in time. Rainbow Dash’s swift moves at Fluttershy’s house saved Discord before he even passed away during his suicide attempt. The sky is turning deep grey outside the hospital building, as Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and William wait in the waiting room. They shake their heads in disbelief, traumatized at what they seen. Discord tried to KILL HIMSELF. It was an EXTREMELY horrible thing to see. Sure, he done bad thing, but… HE NEVER SHOULD DO THAT! He’s their friend, and did everything he could to prove it. Fluttershy cries softly, hoping to hear word from the pony doctors about Discord’s health. Rainbow Dash hugs Fluttershy tightly, nuzzling by her cheek. “He’ll survive.” the cyan pegasi promises. Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and William then see Twilight, Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Spike, Leo, Ian, Luna, and Celestia rushing down the hall in front of them. They then approach the three of them, horrified. “We came as soon as we heard.” Twilight breathes out heavily, “How is he?” “We… we don’t know…” Fluttershy cries. “Discord…” Celestia shakes, “I didn’t know… Why did he….” The doctors finally arrive in front of the gang, with grim looks on their faces. “He’ll survive.” one doctor said, “But… the injuries are quite serious.” “The fracture in his neck is quite severe too.” another doctor explained, “It might takes weeks to heal and mend. Now as for his magic…” The doctors were silent for almost half a minute. “Nearly half his magic… is gone…” the third doctor shudders, “The cuts he made on himself… they’re turning into scars….” “Any chance that the wounds became infected means that… the magic that keeps his body stable will be weak enough to make him sick.” “Our nurses are making potions to keep him energized and healthy though, along with medicine. We promise…” POW! The sound erupts through the hall, as everypony looks down through it. Twilight can then recognize the sound of Discord’s wheezing. “Which room number!?” Twilight asks. “408.” the doctors replied. Twilight and the others then rush to his room. When they arrive in front of the room, Twilight opens the door, and gasps in terror. Discord is trying to strangle himself on the neck, WITH BARBED WIRE. “DISCORD! NO!” Twilight cries. She and the other five ponies then rush to him, to hug him and grab his self-hurting weapon from his paw. Rarity then looks at the gashes and marks on his neck. “Dis… Discord…” Rarity sobs, “You poor creature…” Applejack then nuzzles on Discord’s tail hanging out of his bed. The lord of chaos then snaps his fingers to make a gun in his hand. Pinkie Pie then knows what he’s trying to do. “NO!” the pink pony screams. She then grabs his chicken hand, and pulls the gun out to smash it to the floor, breaking it into pieces. “Please don’t…” Pinkie Pie cries. “I’m worthless…” Discord sighs, “I’m SHIT…” “What?” Applejack gasps, having her jaw drop. The doctors then arrive in the room. “Doctors, what the hell is going on? Why is he acting like this?” Leo demanded. “We… don’t really know…” one doctor said, “The only symptoms we saw on Discord is the blood dripping every now and then from his ears. There also is reddening appearing every hour in his eyes. I think… there was also an aura around them.” Celestia’s eyes grew big as she heard that. “He… he might be possessed.” Celestia considers. “How do YOU know?” William asks. “Allow me to check.” Celestia insists. Twilight nods, and steps aside for the princess. Celestia then steps forward to where Discord slumps on his bed, having her horn touch his forehead lightly. She then closes her eyes, and goes slowly into his mind. She enters, then seeing and hearing… “FILTH!” “WORTHLESS SHIT!” Celestia gasps at her surroundings. The atmosphere of Discord’s chaotic mind are now full of horrifying, and grotesque images of death, rape, abuse, and suicide all around her. The voices are also very loud, and screaming with harsh, hurtful profanities all around her. She then feels something… GRAB HER HOOF! She looks down, seeing an undead looking human scratching her legs, and spitting teeth out her mouth. “YOUR FAULT TOO!” the demonic creature spat, “JOIN US, AND ADMIT YOUR GUILT!” “JOIN THE ONES THAT HATE THEMSELVES!” another demon shouts, clinging onto her back, “DIE!” “NO!” Celestia screams. Her eyes then open into the real world, as the sickening possession pushes her back, and sends her flying to the other side of the room. “CELESTIA!” Twilight cries in alarm. She and Rarity then rush to her to help her up. “What happened?” Rarity asks. “Something…” Celestia breathes out, “SOMETHING possessed Discord. I don’t know what it was, or whatever in his head is, but…” Celestia brings tears out of her eyes. “It took it’s toll. It’s sunk it’s powers into Discord’s mind, and it’s too powerful to remove.” she admits, “I never even encountered any spell like this before, and… I don’t even know how to break it.” “Better let me die…” Discord cries softly. “NO! Discord… Don’t say that.” Rainbow Dash said, hugging his head, “We love you. You’re our friend.” Fluttershy then comes by Rainbow Dash to hug Discord with her. “If anything were to happen to you…” Fluttershy whimpers, “I’ll never forgive myself.” Twilight thinks and long and hard. There has to be a cause to Discord’s self-hatred behaviors. “Where, do you guys assume, he might go hang out when he’s stressed?” Twilight asks, “Wherever he was, there has to be something that caused him to…” Twilight didn’t even want to say more disturbing words. “He… he sometimes likes to go hang out at the pond that’s close to my house.” Fluttershy said, “That area makes him happy, because he’s close to me…” “I better investigate then. Spike, William, Ian, Leo, you guys better come with me.” Twilight says. “We’ll stay with Discord and comfort him.” Luna said, “Take as much time as you need to find that dreadful source.” “Right.” Twilight nods. The purple alicorn then rushes out of the room, having Spike, William, Leo, and Ian follow her. The rest of the gang than stays in the room. Celestia cries heavily as she sees the other five ponies curl up by Discord, trying to make him feel happy. No matter the hugs though, Discord still whispers hateful profanities and slurs to himself. “Discord… we do care about you…” Fluttershy insists. “No… you hate me…. deep down…” Discord breathes. Celestia then feels certain guilt that caused him to go out alone. If she hadn’t scolded him, he might have never gotten possessed. Maybe it wasn’t his fault that last night at Apple Acres. He seemed like he was standing up for himself. Until now, he’s not doing that anymore. “Discord.” Celestia whimpers, “Forgive me…” She then sees the reddening in his eyes, growing stronger. The nerves also become exposed. “Forgive me…” she whimpers again. Twilight, Spike, Leo, Ian, and William look everywhere around the pond to find any evidence they can. So far, William notices the pumped up goose that frightened the ducks before. The muscular bird even hisses at the worm. “Heh. That’s just like Discord.” William grins, “Always making creatures like that.” “Focus, William!” Twilight orders, “There has to be more than just… well… Discord’s creations…” “Hey Twilight, over here!” Spike calls out. Twilight rushes up to her dragon friend, to see him looking at the same rock Discord looked at before. “Do you think THAT caused it?” the dragon asked. Twilight observes the formation and color of the rock. She even notices the skull in the middle. Then… SHE HEARD THE VOICES. She gasps. “Leo, give me one of your magic jars you always carry!” Twilight yelps, “NOW!” The gnome hands his magic jar to Twilight, and Twilight picks up the stone quickly to seal it inside it’s secure prison. “It’s very contagious and dangerous.” she warns, “We better not open it until further notice!” “What is it though?” Ian asks. “One of my library books will explain.” the alicorn proclaims. The five characters are now inside the tree library, looking through the categories about dark magic and witchcraft. “Let’s see. The descriptions will help us when we look through the index.” Leo said, skimming an encyclopedia, “Dark blue, mild red glowing, skull encryption.” Leo looks long and skillfully through the pages, while William helps him. “FOUND IT!” the worm said, “It’s called… Satan’s Mold? That’s a scary name for a possessed rock…” “What page?” Twilight asks. “600.” Leo answers. Twilight than grabs the book, and scrolls real fast to find the page. She then comes across to it, seeing the history of ‘Satan’s Mold’ “The legend of Satan’s Mold goes back into legend when a dark era arises right after Jesus Christ’s crucifixion in the parallel world of humans.” Twilight read, “In one universe, heaven and hell is visible to all mortal kind. There was even a labor working force made by all of the devil’s assistants in the underworld. They each carved and made stones that carry a deadly power with tragic twists of fate. They then find a parallel universe to test the fate of misery upon others. One of these stones is… Satan’s Mold…” Twilight’s eyes keep widening, as she keeps reading. “When the stone is… dropped into the universe, the beings wait for a creature with a cold heart, someone or somepony so cruel enough to await their chance to know of what the stone is capable of. The being that finds the rock will then either agree, or be bribed by the devil they see to pick the victim to push them over the edge. Eventually, too far they the innocent abused will be driven to kill themselves. Some say that the devil known to create these evil stones is called…” Twilight pauses in horror before she even finishes. “Created by who?” William demands, curious. “TIREK.” Twilight whimpers in horror. It seems that Tirek has decided to once again rear his ugly mug. What is his scheme, and can our heroes stop it from being carried out?!